FROM THE : Branstad : Iowa poised for economic growth, educational transformation .....LINK

"Turning to education, the governor called for more-rigorous testing of students, higher standards for the state's teaching corps, and boosting student reading skills early — reforms aimed at creating high expectations for students with fair measures for results, instilling innovation that boosts learning, and promoting highly effective teachers and leaders in Iowa's public schools."

This guy ran on boosting education , the dems must focus on what this CODE talk really means too gop across the nation till nov , here is how Brandstad BOOSTS education , he wanted cuts to the budget , plus implementing all those new programs

http://www.robhogg.org/content.asp?ID=1932&I=8622

2. Allowable Growth. (2012 ) Governor Branstad proposes 0% allowable growth for our K-12 schools for the next two years. This is unprecedented in the history of Iowa's school financing formula which was created in 1973. Zero percent allowable growth will cause layoffs of teachers, paraeducators, and support staff; higher class sizes; and the loss of extracurricular and other enrichment opportunities. For a Governor who says he wants to "make our schools among the best in the world," it is hard to see how that is done without allowing schools to access the resources they need to do the job.

3. Other K-12 Education. Governor Branstad proposes other damaging cuts in K-12 education, including a 6% cut in our state's math and science initiative ($100,000); eliminating the model core curriculum that Iowa has been using to raise standards and expectations throughout the state ($3 million); and cutting an additional $20 million from area education agencies which provide services to special education students, professional development for teachers, and collaboration between school districts to reduce costs and improve service. (He also fails to propose anything to help Iowa overcome the achievement gap, as I proposed in Senate File 63 to double the at-risk pupil funding for districts that qualify by having superior programs for helping at-risk students at a cost of up to $13 million.)

4. Community Colleges. Governor Branstad proposes to cut significant funding from our community colleges. He does not support restoring a $6 million mid-year cut that Governor Culver enacted on January 3 (which he was required to do in order to comply with last year's unduly conservative budget forecasts), and the news is even worse for community colleges in Governor Branstad's FY12 recommendations: an additional $8.4 million cut in general aid, and eliminating community college infrastructure funding ($5.5 million),

ALL THIS WITH OUT A BUDGET DEFICIT , AND $612 MILLION IN OUR RAINY DAY FUND , which of course they want to give away as tax cuts to millionaires and corporations , who have had bloated profits from the last 10 years

I think the Rev Wright thing is the usual Rove strategy. The GOP don't want to talk about Mormons because a lot of people, including me, don't want a Mormon to have the office and power of POTUS. So they hope to innoculate the Obama campaign with the fear of talking about religion by injecting Wright into the corporate media conversation knowing that they'll run with it. Martin Amis said on a NYT video that the American states are really countries within a country. I believe this to be particularly true of Utah. Utah is a Mormon theocracy. I don't want the entire country to become a Mormon theocracy, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this. GOP strategists want to head off any discussion of Mormons and what a Mormon president might do the USA.

The new republican party of backwards religious zealots and white supremacists teamed with fox fools who refuse to think for themselves , is a dangerous crowd of anti-American paranoid lunatics-just my opinion based on what I see.

They talk about regulation on these companies and I remember the time when it was Bush who spoke on how these companies didn’t need all this regulation and that times were different now. Of course at the time, when Bush said these things I wondered what does lye between those Bush ears and how many brain cells he had left. The utter stupidity of Bush to say such things is just beyond me, since just by human nature itself there is people who would not care of the consequences they did and how people do get pressured into doing things by these corrupt people. But the more important issue is have people learned this valuable lesson that regulation is always required in some form or fashion or these corrupt people will literally destroy this world if they could get away with it. And so far these corrupt people are getting away with these things and it will definitely affect everybody eventually and just wait more and you will see how really much worse it can get. If anything shred a tear for our future.

Under the link about Greece lying about its numbers is Forbes Magazine article. I find it interesting the author points to Cuba having cheaper health care, inferring they are lying because of a Communist dictator is running the country. OK, that may be true, I have no argument there.

But I do question why so many business people send the manufacturing to a country with a Communist dictator (China) and expect the consumers here to have money to buy the all stuff they sell.

We had a shrewd businessman work a deal to move a company to where he owned property and the deal meant money in his pocket, due to real estate and the people that worked for the company brought a good economy.

Well now, just last year that company closed the building and moved remaining employees to some other place, but many of the employees did not follow. Instead of leasing another building, the higher ups thought, we can save a ton of money if we make everyone else work harder and close the building. But the work now cannot be done in a timely manner, customers wait, economy stifled again.

Don't outsource, don't put off contracts with employees… the economy would come back if we stop shooting our own feet to send away jobs to foreign nations. Nick Hanauer has it right:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/bBx2Y5HhplI

Back in the Great Depression days, they had the Mafia and big business that fought against each other over wealth. Both the Mafia and big business did whatever was necessary to get their way even to the point of beating up and murdering people. These days in this Depression, big business is both where big business is now left alone to be the Mafia and big business to rob people of everything to gain immense wealth. And is big business organized to do their evil deeds, you better believe it they are and are determined to get their way. Just look at Romney, he is the perfect example of someone who is unflinching and uncaring on what he does to people, except when it affects himself than Romney cries like a little baby.